The Difference You Can Make

For many of the 1.5 billion people living in energy poverty, the thought of having electricity is simply unimaginable. And yet, SELF believes that energy is a human right. Indeed, access to modern energy services is empowering, transformative and life-changing. Since 2008, our solar systems have touched the lives of more than one million people.

This year alone, your support helped us bring solar to power six new primary schools and one junior high school in Haiti, benefiting 2,000 students, and install 20 solar street lights in the Boucan Carré region of Haiti to help provide community safety. In the mountain village of Sabana Crespo in Colombia, we used solar power to keep vaccines cold, enabling more children to be immunized. And, in Benin, we installed 8 new Solar Market Gardens™ to further help ensure food security.

With your donation today, we can:

> Solarize a health clinic, school and other services for the people of the indigenous Arhuaco tribe in Sabana Crespo.

> Partner with national and international organizations to install a solar microgrid in Port-à-Piment that will serve 15,000 people along the southern coast of Haiti.

> Work with UNICEF to refrigerate vaccines using solar power.

And much more. SELF’s projects have shown just how critical energy is to improving the health, education, and economic prospects of the world’s poorest citizens. Please consider a year-end gift to help us make the unimaginable a reality.

Thank you,

Bob Freling
Executive Director

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2013 Year-end Results & Your Support

This year your support helped us to:

BENIN

> Install 8 new Solar Market Gardens™ to help ensure food security.

> Serve approximately 48,000 people with the solar systems we’ve installed in the villages of Bessassi and Dunkassa.

COLOMBIA

> Use solar power in the mountain village of Sabana Crespo to keep vaccines cold.

> Prepare to solarize a local health clinic, school and other services for the people of the indigenous Arhuaco tribe.

HAITI

> Install the country’s very first Solar Market Garden™ to grow high-value fruits and vegetables.

> Power six new primary schools and one junior high school educating a total of 2,000 students.

November 2013: Haiti Update

> 7 NEW SCHOOLS

We recently completed the installation of new solar systems to power six primary schools and one junior high school in the Boucan Carré district of Haiti’s Central Plateau. Close to 2,000 students will now be able to attend schools with lights and computers powered by solar electricity, giving them new opportunities in life that they may never have dreamed about!

> 20 STREET LIGHTS

Eighteen new solar powered street lights have been installed on the roads between Dufailly and Carrefour Georges, and Domond and Boucan Carré. Two others were installed in Sivol, an isolated village so remote in the mountains that there isn’t even a road to it, so we had to carry all of the equipment by hand. The lights will help to provide security in places that are considered to be dangerous, such as high crime areas and along a fast-flowing river.

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August 2013: Update

> BENIN

Eight new Solar Market Gardens™ are up and running and we’ve also completed the installation of solar systems for two schools and a health center in each of our two pilot villages, Dunkassa and Bessassi. Soon, we will also be powering a micro-enterprise center and street lights, completing our Whole Village Development Model!

> 2012 ANNUAL REPORT

2012 was SELF’s busiest year ever, and our projects are now improving the lives of close to 500,000 people. We hope you share our pride in the results – thank you to all of our supporters for making all of this possible:

March 2013: Project Updates

BENIN: Four more Solar Market Gardens™ are up and running and another four will be soon. We also completed solar systems for two schools and a health center in Dunkassa and Bessassi, and next will be a micro-enterprise center, street lights and a drinking water distribution system in each of the villages.

HAITI: The very first Solar Market Garden™ in Haiti is a success! The system is located in Corporant and managed by Zanmi Agrikol, a sister organization of Partners In Health. For the last three months we’ve been monitoring its progress, and it’s been successfully growing okra, tomatoes, eggplant, and cabbage.

COLOMBIA: We are field testing three solar powered direct-drive vaccine refrigerators and the first commercially available direct-drive, battery-free vaccine icepack freezer to support immunization efforts at two remote village health posts. We are also planning on installing a solar energy based microgrid in the village of Sabana Crespo to power micro-enterprise facilities, a health clinic, and a school.

September 2012: 2011 Annual Report and new website launch

This past summer was a busy one for us, with our projects in Benin gathering momentum and many of our installations in Haiti coming to completion. Today, we’re happy to share with you SELF’s 2011 Annual Report and announce the launch of our new website!